


Phriends Don't Last Phorever

by rayghosts



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, Gen, Phic Phight 2019, Separate Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom, platonic Pitch Pearl - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 13:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21733072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayghosts/pseuds/rayghosts
Summary: Danny was 14 when he fused with a ghost.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton & Danny Phantom Clone(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LunagaleMaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunagaleMaster/gifts).

> this was written for the phic phight event, based on lunagalemaster's prompt: "Phriendship or Pitch Pearl- After very long and heartfelt discussions, Fenton and Phantom decided that they would live their lives as their own people. Years later, Fenton has grown up, but Phantom is still 14."

Danny was 14 when he fused with a ghost.

Since getting into an accident from one of his parents’ inventions, a voice appeared in his head. It gave snarky remarks on his life and often complained. With the voice came emotions that were not his own, and sometimes Danny even felt his body move by itself to do something this voice wanted.

He was certain that he was going crazy. It didn’t even cross his mind that this voice was another creature trapped inside him until it proved so to him.

He remembered the otherworldly feeling he experienced as the ectoplasm first spread throughout his body. He gasped and stared, shocked, at the reflection in the bathroom mirror. Green eyes stared back instead of the usual blue, and his whole form glowed.

_What are you?_ He asked the voice. And the voice replied,

_A ghost._

He stumbled back, slipped onto the ground, and pushed himself against the bathtub. His hand moved—not by him, but by the voice—and Danny could faintly see the bathroom tiles through it.

_Get out of me,_ he thought with terror.

But the voice hesitated before replying, _I can’t._

_What do you mean?_

_That accident must have done something that made me stuck to you, _the voice spoke._ Trust me. If I could leave, I would have done so long ago. Your life is boring as hell._

Danny gulped. His saliva felt cold.

_We should talk to my parents, he suggested to the voice in his head. They’re ghost scientists. They can—_

_NO._

Danny flinched. _Why not?_

_I’m not an idiot. They’re ghost hunters. I want to leave your body, not get killed._

_I thought ghosts are already dead._

_I don’t want to die again._

Danny was quiet. He could feel a well of emotions spring up inside his chest—fear, sadness, hopelessness. His hands had fisted on their own.

Danny mentally pulled on his arm and regained control of his body. He tried to hold the bathtub to pull himself up, but his hand phased through. It caused a tingling sensation through his arm, and he shivered.

_Turn me back,_ he ordered the ghost.

_Not until you promise not to tell your parents._

He hesitated. Under any other circumstance, Danny would never have agreed. His parents have warned him enough times not to trust a ghost. He could still remember how, as a child, hearing descriptions of ghosts and their abilities, how they could walk through walls like it was nothing and control people’s bodies against their will, made him tremble and cry. He remembered how his mother soothed him and promised with a confident smile that if any ghost tried to control their son, they would shred it apart molecule by molecule.

But now, he could feel the ghost’s emotions inside him. He felt how desperate it was, how much it wanted to survive. And, reluctantly, he relaxed.

_…Alright,_ he finally thought. _I promise not to tell._

He sensed some hesitation from the ghost. _You’re sure?_

Danny nodded. Slowly, the ghost took over his body again, and there was a sharp pull as the ectoplasm receded again.

He hissed at the sudden heat that overtook his body, like he was being electrocuted in the portal all over again. But as quickly as the pain came, it was gone, and Danny felt the heart inside his chest begin pumping again.

He looked at his hand. It was solid. He pulled himself up and looked at his reflection in the mirror, and he sighed in relief when he was greeted by his normal blue eyes and black hair.

_I can stop you, you know,_ the voice trapped in his head warned. _If you ever decide to change your mind._

He did know. The ghost had taken over his body enough times for Danny to be sure that it would have no problem stopping him from confessing to his parents the truth.

And so, for the next month, no one knew about the ghost.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny was 14 when he had his first ghost fight.

It had been a month since the ghost first appeared in his thoughts. Over that time, the two of them have developed an odd sort of bond. The ghost had access to all of Danny’s hidden feelings, and he provided an unlikely outlet of support when no one else knew. Meanwhile, Danny would sometimes catch glimpses of the ghost’s pasts during his dreams—memories half-forgotten by the ghost that made themselves visible to Danny during his sleep.

However, that didn’t change either of their minds about wanting to split up. If only it was easy to find a way without help from Danny’s parents. They snuck into the lab sometimes to see if they could find anything that would de-fuse them, but without knowing what any of the inventions actually do, it was always fruitless.

Their frustration must be evident when Danny went to school, because he often saw Sam and Tucker give him worried glances. Sometimes, they would ask him if anything was wrong, but he just shrugged and smiled and said that it was all fine. They didn’t press—or at least, Tucker didn’t. Apparently, he underestimated Sam’s stubbornness.

“Alright, spill,” Sam demanded one day as she slammed her lunch tray on the table across from him.

Danny paused his fork halfway to his mouth. “Uh…spill what?”

“You know what,” Sam responded with a glare. She sat down and crossed her arms, leaning forward. “It’s obvious that something is up. You keep acting so weird lately! Staring off into space like you’re having conversations in your head, never talking with us…” She took a deep breath, and her face softened. “I just…want you to talk to us.”

Danny set his fork down quietly and looked away. _Maybe I should…_

_Tell her that you have a ghost trapped inside your body because of a dare she told you to do?_ the ghost completed. _How do you think she’ll take that?_

Danny winced. He sent a glance up toward where both Sam and Tucker were sitting, waiting for him to say something. He sighed.

“Look,” he said slowly, “I appreciate you guys getting worried for me, but it’s—”

“Don’t say it’s nothing,” Sam interrupted.

“…It’s complicated,” he finished with a grimace.

Sam and Tucker held eyes for a moment, then looked back at Danny. “You…you ready to talk about it?” Tucker asked.

Danny looked at each of his friends. Anxiousness welled up inside him, and he mentally prodded the ghost. It sighed.

_Whatever,_ the ghost said. _If you want to tell them, go ahead, but it’s all on you._

Danny inhaled, then opened his mouth to talk to his friends—but before he could get out a single word, something odd happened.

He gasped as all of a sudden it felt like a bucket of ice had been dumped inside his throat. It squeezed and stung, and he held a hand up to his neck where the cold had appeared suddenly. Just as quick as it appeared, it traveled up and left through his mouth, freezing his teeth as it went. His eyes caught a thin line of mist in front of him, and it dissolved in the air just as the last remains of the ice in his mouth went away.

_What was that?_ he wondered.

Inside him, the ghost grew uneasy. _Oh no._

“Danny?”

He looked up at his friends and saw their brows knit with worry. He realized his mouth was still open, but all his words were gone.

_We should leave._

“I should leave.” The phrase left him before he knew what was happening. His body stood on its own.

“Wait, where are you going?” He ignored Sam’s question and left the room. His heart rate quickened as the ghost’s fear flooded his chest. When they exited through the cafeteria doors, Danny forced them to stop.

_What was that?_ he questioned. _What’s going on? Why did we leave?_

There was a moment of hesitation before he got his reply. _There’s a ghost._

Danny blinked in surprise. _Another ghost? Besides you?_

_No, Danny, I just left the room because I was scared of me._ If the ghost had eyes, he was certain it would have rolled them.

Danny ignored the sarcasm. Instead, he asked, _So you’re scared of this ghost?_

_I’d be a fool not to be. Most ghosts can be extremely violent._

_But you’re not._

_Well, most ghosts aren’t me._

Danny looked back toward the cafeteria. _If it’s so bad, then shouldn’t we do something to stop it?_

_Are you crazy? Why would we do that?_

_My friends are in there._

_They’re not worth it! Just focus on saving ourselves._

Anger boiled inside him. _So we just let them be? What if they were your friends?_

_I don’t have friends._ At Danny’s surprise, it groaned and added, _Don’t pity me. I just said most ghosts are violent, remember? Not exactly a friendly species._

Danny scowled. He started walking back to the cafeteria doors.

_Hey, wait, what are you doing?_

He could feel the ghost struggle to gain control of his body to make it stop. Danny pushed it away, and he grabbed the door handles.

All of a sudden, a flash of searing heat exploded throughout his body. He shouted and let go of the handle. He shut his eyes until the pain ebbed away, and when it did, he opened them again to see himself in ghost form. His hand flexed. He wasn’t in control.

Danny gulped. _I thought we agreed to never do that again._

_Sorry, but it’s easier to be in control when we’re in this form,_ the ghost explained, a sheepish smile appearing on their face. Danny felt a cold, pricking sensation like icicles spread throughout his body, and a moment later their body disappeared from sight.

The ghost turned their now-invisible body away from the door and lifted it into the air. They flew through the hallways, away from where the other ghost may be. Danny felt a flash of irritation and tugged on their body until he managed to make it stop.

_Wow, you’re determined,_ commented the ghost. It tried to regain control, but Danny stubbornly refused to let go. They ended up having a tug-of-war game with Danny’s body until one of them accidentally turned them intangible, and they fell through the floor.

The ghost lifted their body with a groan and looked around at the basement they ended up in. Boxes labelled with various kinds of meats surrounded them.

_Huh,_ Danny thought. _I didn’t know our school has a meat locker._

He gasped as that feeling in his throat happened again. Blue mist left his mouth.

_Shit._

His head whipped around, and he spotted a glowing figure in the corner behind one of the boxes. It moved around to reveal itself as…an old woman?

“Excuse me,” the glowing woman said, “but I was just checking up on the school’s food supply, when I found the strangest thing! I don’t remember this being on the menu.” She held forward a box in her arms, and Danny peeked in to see a stash of…what looked like grass on bread?

It looked like something Sam would eat, what with her weird ultra-recyclo vegetarian diet and all. Wait…now that he thought about it, didn’t she say something about wanting to bring change to the school? He groaned. “Of course Sam would do this.”

“Sam?” the woman questioned, tilting her head. “Is that the name of the person who brought this here?”

Danny opened his mouth to reply, but he was stopped by a sharp ringing of alarm that sounded in his head. _What are you doing?!_ the ghost demanded. _That’s a ghost!_

Danny looked at the woman before him. She looked back with kind, curious eyes. But…she looks harmless? 

He sensed a flash of irritation from the ghost. _Oh, so she gets to be a she?_

_…Huh?_

_Come on, I can read your thoughts. I know you still refer to me as ‘it.’_

Danny was flabbergasted. _I—Well—I wasn’t sure if you’re a boy or girl!_

_Just ‘they’ would have been fine. Though, if you want to know, I’m a he._

“Young man?” the woman questioned, snapping them out of their conversation. “Is everything alright?”

“U-um, yeah, I’m good,” Danny replied.

“Wonderful!” She smiled. “Then will you answer my question?”

Danny hesitated. When he didn’t answer quickly enough, her facial expression darkened.

“ANSWER ME!” she screamed. Danny jumped back in terror.

“Yes!” he squeaked.

The elderly ghost smiled darkly. “Sam, is it?” Her form began to change. Her hair turned to flames, and her size doubled. Her grin revealed sharp fangs. “I think I should teach this Sam a lesson for trying to change the menu.”

She zoomed up and through the roof of the basement, leaving Danny gaping. After a moment of silence, the ghost piped up, _I told you so._

In a different part of the school were Sam and Tucker, walking down a hallway. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tucker asked. “I mean, it looked like he didn’t want to talk.”

“I’m not going to force him to talk,” Sam responded. She peeked into another room. Empty. “I just…want to know where he is.”

“Isn’t that, like, a breach of personal privacy or something?”

Sam gritted her teeth and turned to face Tucker. “That’s the thing! We never had privacy before. I told you all my secrets, you told me yours…why can’t Danny?”

Tucker opened his mouth to reply but found that he had nothing to say. Fortunately, he didn’t have to, because in that moment, he caught something behind her. “Uh…Sam?”

Sam sighed and shook her head. “No, you’re right. Maybe I should just wait. Danny’ll come around eventually…”

“Sam?”

“What?”

Tucker pointed a shaky hand to something behind her. She turned around and immediately jumped back.

In the middle of the hallway floated what appeared to be a glowing, transparent, green-skinned lunch lady. “Is that--?” Tucker asked in a whisper.

“—a ghost?” Sam completed.

“Excuse me, dearies,” the specter said, “do either of you know someone named ‘Sam’?”

“What does a ghost want with you?” Tucker asked, looking at Sam.

“Oh, so you’re Sam?” the lunch lady asked, her eyes snapping to her. Immediately, her expression turned into a scowl. “You’re the one who wanted to change the menu?”

“Wait,” Tucker said, “you wanted to what--?”

The lunch lady didn’t leave them time to react. A hand reached out and grabbed Sam by the neck. Tucker screamed.

“THAT MENU STAYED THE SAME FOR THIRTY YEARS!” the ghost screeched at Sam’s face.

Somehow, Sam was more annoyed than terrified. “Oh, so I can’t bring some positive change to this school? Is that it?”

“YES,” the lunch lady yelled. She slammed Sam against a row of lockers and brought a fist up to punch her. Sam shut her eyes and waited for the fist’s impact, but it never came. Instead, the lunch lady hissed and let go.

Sam opened her eyes in surprise and found the ghost holding an injured arm, which looks like it had been scorched. She traced the lunch lady’s glare to a figure floating to the side which hadn’t been there before. It was another ghost—this one was a young boy around Sam’s age, with glowing white hair and green eyes. His hand was raised like it had been aimed at the lunch lady, and his face betrayed a look of surprise.

“We can shoot lasers?” the ghost boy exclaimed.

The lunch lady screamed and lurched at him. He cursed and dodged swiftly. He made his way to where Sam and Tucker stood and placed a hand on each’s shoulder.

“This might feel a little tingly,” he said. Before Sam could ask what he meant by that, a strange sensation enveloped her, and they suddenly fell.

Sam screamed as they fell through the floor. She pushed the ghost’s hand away, and the feeling left her. Her body was slammed against the hard ground of the floor below them.

“Shit, Sam, are you okay?” The ghost boy had made his way over to her, worry evident on his otherworldly features.

“How do you know my name?”

He looked confused for a moment, but before he could say a thing, he gasped and whipped around as the lunch lady descended from the roof.

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!” she screeched. “NO ONE CHANGES THE MENU! NO ONE—” She was interrupted by a beam of light that hit her back. She turned her head and saw Tucker, holding a thermos in front of him. The beam sucked her in. “NO! WHAT IS THIS! NOOoo…!”

Tucker capped the thermos as the last of her was sucked inside. He exhaled. “Wow. I didn’t think that would do something. I mean, Mr. and Mrs. F. always did warn us about meeting ghosts, but I thought the thermos they gave me was just a regular thermos.”

“You thought it was a regular thermos, and you still pointed it at a ghost?” Sam asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Hey, I was desperate, and the thermos was the only thing on me.”

The ghost boy laughed. “I guess we got lucky, huh?” He paused when he saw Sam and Tucker stare at him. “…Tuck? Why are you pointing the thermos at me?”

Sam had stepped closer at Tucker, who was aiming the thermos at the ghost boy. “You’re a ghost,” Tucker pointed out.

The ghost boy blanked out for a second, then recognition crossed his face and he smiled. “Oh, no, you don’t have to worry about me!” he said, waving his hands in front of him. “It’s me!”

As they watched, a flash of light suddenly burst from the phantom. After shielding her eyes, Sam thought she caught sight of him wincing—it looked like it was painful—and then the light was gone. What stood in the ghost’s place had Sam and Tucker’s jaws on the floor.

“I guess you want an explanation, huh?” said Danny Fenton with a sheepish smile.

Sam blinked. After finally managing to be able to speak, she said, “You were a ghost. You were dead.”

“Technically, that was only half me,” he replied and rubbed his neck nervously. Unsurprisingly, he received blank stares from Sam and Tucker, so he sighed and began explaining.

It happened during the accident with his parents’ portal. He was fused with a ghost. The ghost can occasionally lend him its—“his,” Danny corrected himself—powers.

“You’re possessed,” Sam stated once he finished explaining.

“No, not really,” he refuted. “It’s more like cohabitation, if that makes any sense.”

“…Your parents—”

“Don’t tell them,” Danny snapped. He looked away and rubbed his neck. “I mean…I don’t want anything bad to happen to the ghost. He’s my friend.” He smiled at that, like he heard a reply that only he could hear.

“Dude that’s so cool. And weird,” Tucker said. “What’s his name?”

Danny glanced up and paused. “…Huh. He’s been with me for a month, but I never asked for his name.”

“Well? What is it?”

After several seconds, Danny said, “He doesn’t have one.”

“Well, we can’t just keep calling him ‘ghost’, can we?” Sam spoke up. “We should come up with something cooler. Like Specter, or…” She snapped her fingers and said with a grin, “Phantom.”

“Perfect!” Tucker agreed with a laugh. “And when you two are together, you can be Danny Phantom!”

Danny laughed at that, though Sam couldn’t tell whether it was him or the ghost who was laughing. Maybe it was both.

“It’s so rad, though,” Tucker continued. “You’re like a superhero.”

“A superhero?” Danny asked, surprised.

“Well, yeah. You did just beat up that old ghost woman who was trying to kill us.” Tucker wiped his nails smugly and added, “I mean, sure, I was the one who finished her off. But you did good, too.’

Inside Danny’s head, he could hear Phantom spout off complaints. _No way. We are not going to become a ghostly superhero. Fighting just one ghost was bad enough!_

_I don’t know, man. Tucker has a point. Besides, _he grinned,_ you have to do something in return for me keeping your secret._

Phantom grumbled, but he didn’t counter. Finally, he said, _Fine. If you end up dying, don’t say I didn’t warn you._

Danny grinned at Tucker. “Superhero sounds perfect.”

And for the next three years, that was what he became.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny was 17 when his parents found out.

They were flying through the sky in ghost form one night. Though they mostly did it for patrol, it was still soothing to soar through the air like this.

_Keep your guard up,_ Phantom warned. _A ghost could appear at any time._

Danny smiled. _If I remember correctly, you were the one against this whole superhero thing when we first started._

A shrug. _I guess, after three years, even ghosts can change._

It was true. Ever since discovering that ghosts came through his parents’ portal…well, at first Phantom insisted they try to shut it down, but after it became clear that was not possible, they instead vowed to defend the human world from incoming ghosts. And they did. They went through countless adventures and fought against every ghost imaginable—big and small, weak and strong—until the name ‘Danny Phantom’ was echoed across the ghost zone.

A puff of blue mist from his mouth snapped Danny out of his reminisce. He stopped in place and looked around, searching for the ghost. Phantom caught a projectile in the corner of their eye just fast enough for them to dodge it. They whipped around to see Skulker.

“You again,” Phantom greeted. Then Danny smirked and added, “Here to hunt me again?”

Skulker’s metallic face twisted into a sneer. “You’re half human.”

Danny chuckled and rubbed his neck. “Yeah, it’s a little more complicated than that.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re still rare, which makes your pelt worthy of hanging on my wall.”

Danny simply winced and muttered, “You really need a new hobby.”

“Really?” Skulker replied with a grin. “I’m happy enough with my current hobby.”

He shot a missile, and the fight started. Danny/Phantom managed to dodge most of the weapons thrown their way and blasted several ecto-blasts at Skulker. They destroyed one of his mechanical legs, but he nicked them in the side. Danny inhaled sharply and grabbed the gash where Skulker’s knife managed to graze him.

Skulker lunged at him with another knife, but Danny managed to drop from the sky just in time to dodge. He landed in an alley and rested himself against a wall to catch his breath. Sure, they didn’t need to breathe in ghost form, but breathing always made him feel calmer.

Skulker landed nearby and aimed a weapon at them. They didn’t give him time to shoot. They lunged at him and gathered all their energy into a blast at his chest. Skulker stumbled back, his armor spewing sparks from the hole they created. They aimed an uncapped thermos at him, and a bright beam of light sucked him in.

Danny blew out a breath and leaned against the alley wall. God, his side hurt. He looked down and found the gash still leaking ectoplasm.

_It’ll heal by tomorrow,_ Phantom assured. Danny slowly nodded. He pushed himself away from the wall and into the air to go home.

Not one second after he left the alley, a net flew at him.

He yelled as the net propelled him to the ground. He tried to untangle himself, but a sudden shock of electricity raced through his body that made him scream. His side still hurt. His vision was blurry.

“We did it, Mads!” he heard a man cheer. It sounded like his dad. He tried to lift his head to look at him, but another burst of electricity from the net stopped him and made him curl into himself.

“Finally,” said another voice excitedly. This one sounded like his mother. Through the haze of pain, he could make out the blurry outlines of hazmat boots step toward him. One pair of legs bent down, and a smiling face entered his vision. “You’ll be coming with us, ghost boy.”

He thought he could hear Phantom urging him to get up, but it didn’t matter. He was already drifting into darkness.

…

Phantom was the first to wake up.

He groaned as his consciousness stirred awake. Danny was still out in whatever shared dream they had. Though Danny claimed that their dreams were shared, Phantom could never remember them for some reason. Not that it mattered.

He hissed as pain shot through their body when he stirred. Weird. Usually, he never felt this much pain unless…

…they were in human form.

Phantom shot their eyes open. He looked down and found himself in Danny’s human body. He quickly scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain from his side and in his head.

He looked around and was met with Danny’s parents’ lab. There was a translucent green dome around him, and when he tried to touch it, it sent a zap through their body. A ghost shield, then. A pretty powerful one, if it still works on him in human form.

A movement in the corner of his field of vision caught his attention, and he turned around to see Danny’s parents stand in front of him. They were looking at him in an expression he’s never seen them use on Danny. Serious. Grim.

Jack was uncharacteristically quiet, and it was Maddie who spoke. “Are you Danny, or are you a ghost?”

Phantom was taken aback. “…What?” he slowly asked.

Maddie stepped forward until her face was almost touching the shield. From behind her goggles, he was certain her eyes did not waver away from him. “Are you my son, or are you a ghost masquerading around in his body?”

Phantom didn’t know what to say. Why was the organ in their chest thumping harder than usual? “I don’t—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered.

Maddie didn’t move. She continued to stand there, glaring at him. He gulped. Where the hell was Danny? He tried to prod him with his consciousness, urging him to wake up.

“I won’t let any foul specter hurt my family.” It was Jack who spoke up this time, causing Phantom to turn his stare to him. “If you’re a ghost, then I’ll rip you out of my son, then I’ll rip you apart molecule by molecule.”

“Hey, now, hold on,” Phantom pleaded, holding up both hands. “This is all a big misunderstanding! I never meant to hurt your son!”

“So you’re not Danny?” Maddie pressed.

_Damn it._

“I’ll get the Fenton Gauntlets,” Jack announced and turned away.

“Wait! Please! Let’s talk this through!”

“I’ll talk to no ghost possessing my son!” Maddie shouted. Phantom flinched. He mentally poked Danny harder and with more urgency. Please wake up please wake up please wake up—

Danny woke up.

His body jumped in surprise as their surroundings came flooding into his consciousness. His eyes sprinted around frantically until they stopped at the person in front of them. “Mom?”

Jack stopped in his tracks. Maddie stiffened. Her eyes observed him calculatingly. “Danny?”

Danny looked down at himself and widened his eyes. _Why are we in human form?_

_Yeah, so, I don’t really remember what happened, but I’m pretty sure your parents know about me now._

_What?!_

“Danny, sweetie, is that you?”

Danny looked up at his mom. “What’s happening?”

“There’s a ghost inside you,” Jack answered. “But don’t worry, Danny! We’ll get rid of it in no time—”

“No!” Danny yelled. His parents flinched at the sudden outburst. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I mean—I already know about the ghost. He’s been in me for years now.”

“Years?” Jack echoed in surprise.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Maddie prodded gently.

“Because I knew you were going to do something bad to him,” Danny replied, looking at each of his parents. “I know you think all ghosts are bad, but they’re not. Phantom’s helped me protect the city—”

“It placed your body in harm and used you to fight,” Maddie interrupted, seething.

“It was my idea,” Danny retorted. “We both share control of my body. It’s not like I’m a complete prisoner to him! Look—” He pulled at the ectoplasm resided inside his body, and the flash of light appeared that accompanied their transformation. At this point, Danny was able to transform into a ghost even without Phantom’s help, and the electrifying pain that accompanied it was barely noticeable. He stood before his parents in ghost form, arms wide open to show himself more clearly. “I can control his own powers for myself!”

Unfortunately, that little spectacle did nothing to convince his parents. If anything, it did the exact opposite. Maddie’s expression immediately darkened.

“I see,” she said.

Danny lowered his arms in surprise. “You do?”

“I do. I see that you’re still not Danny.”

It felt like a ton was suddenly dropped on Danny. “What? No! It’s me!”

Maddie pretended not to hear. “Don’t worry, Danny. We’ll get this ghost out of you in no time.”

Danny’s hands curled into fists. His jaw felt tight. “You’re not listening!” he insisted. Turning to Jack, he added, “Dad, tell her it’s me!”

But Jack did not. He only looked at his son like he was an alien. Danny felt his chest tighten.

“I’m not a ghost!” he cried, and desperation was evident in his tone. His parents had to understand. They had to.

They didn’t. “Get the gauntlets,” Maddie told Jack, and he nodded and walked away.

Phantom sighed. _I should have known this wouldn’t be easy. Well, it was nice knowing you, I guess._

But Danny wasn’t as resigned. Ectoplasm pooled in his fists as his agitation increased. “Mom, please,” he begged. But Maddie didn’t answer.

“Stay in there, Danny. We’re going to get this ghost out—”

He screamed in frustration and blasted the floor. Maddie remained stoic. Gritting his teeth, Danny tried to phase through the floor, but it seemed the ghost shield included the ground as well.

_It’s okay,_ Phantom told him. _You tried, at least._

It wasn’t okay. It was far from okay. Danny felt tears pool in his eyes from how not-okay this situation was.

Outside the ghost shield, he saw his father return with what appeared to be large metal gloves. Sharp spikes were attached to the knuckles. The gauntlets glinted dangerously on his dad’s hands.

He backed away as Jack walked through the shield toward them. A sharp jolt when his back touched the ghost shield told him he couldn’t go back farther, and he stared at his father with pleading eyes. “Don’t do this.”

Jack’s expression was serious, the kind of serious that only made itself evident when their family was in danger. “I have to. I can’t let a ghost stay inside my child.”

Danny inhaled shakily. “Then,” he said slowly, “don’t hurt him, at least.”

Jack didn’t respond to that. Danny thought he saw his expression falter, but it was only for a second. He came closer, his hands up and gauntlets fisted. Danny gulped and closed his eyes, letting his stubbornness melt away.

_I guess this is it. It was nice knowing you, dude, _he thought to Phantom.

_Yeah, _Phantom replied._ Same._

He didn’t fidget when Jack brought the gauntlets to them. This was it. Being with Phantom was fun, but the time has come for them to separate ways.

However, as the spikes were about to dig into his body, Phantom’s survival instincts suddenly kicked in. His eyes flew open. His arms moved on their own and shot a blast at Jack, knocking him back.

“Shit!” The curse word came from Phantom as he stared wide-eyed at what he had done. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

He was interrupted by his own scream as a flash of searing pain was rammed into his side. Danny’s body fell, his head hitting the solid floor. In their field of vision, he saw that Maddie had stepped inside the shield and was holding a gun, smoking at the barrel.

He tried pulling Danny’s body up, but Maddie shot him again, and his head hit the floor again. Darkness was creeping into their vision. Their energy seeped away, returning them to human form by default. Slowly, they fell unconscious.

Or at least, Danny did. Phantom was forcibly pulled out of the darkness. Light hit him at once, and so did pain. It felt like he was being stretched in half, and he felt no shame in letting out a scream. It was only after the pain subsided that he allowed himself to open his eyes, and he saw…

Himself.

No, that’s not right. Scratch that. He saw _Danny_.

Phantom noticed then that the pulse he normally felt from Danny was gone. His body felt weightless in a way he hadn’t felt since he and Danny were bonded. It was true, then. He and Danny were finally separated.

Phantom felt something in his back release itself, and he fell forward and touched on the floor. He turned around and saw Jack still holding the gauntlets, but now the spikes were dripping with ectoplasm. _His_ ectoplasm.

He looked at Maddie and Jack, both standing before him, both holding ghost weapons. He gulped.

“So, I guess you’re going to…t-tear me apart now,” he said softly.

Maddie’s face remained expressionless. “You shouldn’t have overshadowed our son.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Phantom argued. “It was an accident. When he turned on the portal, I…we got stuck together. I couldn’t leave.” He looked away from Danny’s parents, opting instead to look at his toes. “And I didn’t overshadow him. We shared control, like he said.”

Jack looked at Phantom uncertainly, then turned to Maddie. She didn’t take her eyes off the ghost, but her brows were slightly furrowed. Truth be told, she was surprised. She expected a vile monster to come out of her son’s body and continue attacking them like it last did to Jack; instead, not only did it still look vaguely similar to her son, but it was also calm. It hugged its knees while it sat on the floor, not meeting her or her husband’s gaze. It was quiet. Waiting for them to end it.

She took a deep breath. Logically, she knew that ghosts are manipulative. Phantom could be trying to trick her into believing that what it made her son say was true, and that it was innocent. She won’t fall for its tricks. She told herself she won’t fall for its tricks. And yet…maybe it was because it looked like her son, but she couldn’t get herself to harm it.

She sighed. Against all logic, she pressed a button on the remote in her pocket, and the ghost shield dissolved. Both Phantom and Jack stared at her in surprise. “Go,” she told the ghost.

Funnily enough, it stayed. “But…why?”

Maddie forced her face to remain neutral. “If—and I mean _if_—what you said was true, and my son wasn’t being controlled by you…then he seems to think you’re a good ghost. And if I’m being honest, I can’t lie and say you haven’t done anything to save Amity Park. So…” She gestured to the ghost portal behind them and repeated, “Go.”

Phantom looked at Jack, but it didn’t seem like he was going to argue with his wife. In fact, the man seemed…relieved? “You’re sure?” Phantom questioned, uncertain.

“Do you _want_ me to change my mind?” Maddie asked, a little incredulous.

Phantom shook his head and scrambled toward the portal. He paused at its mouth and sent one last glance at Danny. The boy was still lying unconscious on the floor; his white shirt was stained red at the spot where Skulker injured them. Guess it won’t heal by tomorrow, after all, with Phantom’s accelerated healing gone from his body.

His vision of Danny was obscured by his parents standing protectively in front of their son, sending Phantom wary looks. It seemed, even though they were letting him leave, they still didn’t trust him fully. Had Phantom had any lungs left, he would have sighed. Instead, he turned toward the portal and, after sending one last mental goodbye to the place, he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny was 18 when he went to college.

He stood at the door to his bedroom, a packed travel bag by his side. His eyes swept across the room, taking in the fading blue walls, the various space posters, the glow-in-the-dark stars that he never took off. He won’t see them again for a whole year.

He could imagine Phantom’s sarcastic voice speak in his head. _Why the sentiment? It’s not like this place is gonna be destroyed or anything. Besides, this place is lame. I hope your college roommate has better taste than you._

Danny chuckled. _Shut up, dummy,_ he thought. No response came, except for the rustle of leaves outside his window.

He smiled sadly. Has it really been a year since he and Phantom separated? It was too quiet with only his own thoughts in his head.

He missed Phantom.

Danny shook his head. He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus on the present. Phantom was gone, and that was that. After making sure he had everything he needed, Danny took his bag and went downstairs, where family was waiting.

Maddie and Jack looked up from their spot in the living room. He paused halfway down the stairs as they came into sight. They locked eyes, and for a moment, no one spoke. The tension that hung between them was so heavy it was suffocating.

He remembered how, for a whole week, he refused talking to his parents ever since…that day…just so they knew that yes, that was really him talking, and he meant what he said. His parents said that they let Phantom go unharmed, thank goodness for that, but he still couldn’t get himself to forgive them. Would anyone, if their parents captured them in their lab and shot them unconscious? His avoidance would have gone on longer had Jazz not interfered.

Speaking of Jazz, her eyes darted between her parents and her brother uncertainly. She must have noticed the tension between them because—bless that girl—she suddenly clapped her hands together and said, “So! Danny going to college, huh?”

That must have succeeded in easing her family. Jack smiled. “Right! Gosh, the house will be so empty with both our kids gone. Both off to do great things!”

Slowly, Danny allowed himself to relax. He chuckled. “It’s just college, Dad.”

“Maybe, but I have no doubt that you’ll graduate and become—what was it you wanted to be? An astronaut?” The man gestured with his hands at an imaginary headline and read, “Danny Fenton, first man on Mars!”

Danny laughed, which made his parents smile in relief. The tension immediately dissipated, and he went the rest of the way down the stairs and stopped in front of Maddie. His mother gave him a hesitant smile. “It’s so hard to believe—are you really an adult now?” She looked him up and down and stifled a laugh. “I’d say you grew up quickly, but it looks like you haven’t grown at all.”

Danny couldn’t hold back a snort at that. It was true that he seemed to have grown up slower than his peers. Even though he was 18, he barely looked older than 15 years. He suspected it had something to do with having an immortal ghost inside his body; after all, since Phantom left, his aging had picked up to a normal pace—though a little too late.

Maddie hesitated a while longer before bringing up her arms for a hug. She wrapped them around him carefully, and Danny stiffened for just a second before he slowly reciprocated the embrace. It felt very awkward, but it was progress.

“Call us, okay?” she said into his ear.

“Okay,” he murmured.

They parted, and she gave him another smile. After a few more goodbyes, he left the house with Jazz.

Jazz had agreed to drive him to the airport. Despite being old enough, he didn’t have a driving license…it didn’t seem so important back when he could fly. He sat in the passenger seat of Jazz’s car, and off they went.

It was a busy day that morning. The roads were jammed with traffic. Car horns blared from every side. Danny sunk into his seat and looked out the window.

There was a blur of motion in his side-view mirror that caught his attention. He saw something large glow in the sky in the distance, partially hidden by buildings. He felt his body tense up before he forced himself to relax. It was a ghost, no doubt about that, but ghosts weren’t his problem anymore. His parents—as well as the other amateur ghost hunters that popped up in town—would be able to handle the ghost on their own. He was just a boy (going on man) who wanted to focus on his studies.

So, he let his vision wander away from the creature in the mirror. He was certain his parents’ Ghost Assault Vehicle was already on its way to capture it. He squirmed in his seat to better be comfortable in what seemed to be a very slow car trip. (He missed flying.)

…But then, another ghost showed up in the mirror. It was another blur, gone before he could see it well, but something about it registered in Danny’s mind. It was smaller than the previous ghost, and black and white. Danny’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be…

He rolled down the car window and stuck his head out to better see the view behind them. In the far distance, he could make out two glowing figures in the sky, but he only focused on one. Specifically, the black-and-white one that shot out green lasers.

Danny’s heart pumped in his chest. It was too far away to tell for sure, but…could it really be him? The two ghosts swooped across the sky until they were hidden behind a large building. Danny clenched his jaw and stepped out of the car.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Jazz called to him. He ignored her. He tried to crane his neck to see behind the buildings, but it was no use. He was half-determined to run down the street to where the ghost fight was, but a loud blare from the car behind them snapped him back into focus.

It seemed the car in front of Jazz’s finally moved, and now all the cars behind them were angrily waiting for him to get back into the car. He gritted his teeth and sent one more glance to where the ghosts were, but they were still hidden.

…Was it really worth it staying here if it did turn out to be him? After all, he had moved on from his superhero escapades. A ticket sat in his pocket for a plane leaving in one hour. He was going to pursue his dreams.

One final blare from the car behind them was enough to get him to make up his mind. He reentered the car. Jazz sent him a quizzical look, but he just shook his head and said, “It’s nothing.”

Jazz didn’t press further. They drove on in silence. Later, Danny would meet up with Sam and Tucker in the airport to catch up before they went on separate ways to their different colleges. He would sit in his plane at a seat near the window and look down at Amity Park.

He wouldn’t see the ghost again for two years.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny was 20 when they first met again.

He had meant to visit his family last year, but a snowstorm prevented him from flying home on winter break, and the summer was spent by his parents in a foreign state for some ghost hunting convention. As a result, he made up his mind to visit them this Christmas to make up for the lost family time.

The sun was setting by the time he arrived in Amity Park, and the first stars began to show when he arrived at Fenton Works. He was greeted with cheerful grins from his parents when he stepped in.

“There’s our son!” Jack exclaimed, beaming. “How’s college? Second year already, huh?”

“It’s a little stressful, to be honest,” Danny replied with a sheepish smile. Jack patted his shoulder, causing him to buckle under his large hand.

“That’s fine! I’m sure you’ll get used to it eventually.”

Danny felt a warmth grow inside him at how friendly the gesture felt. It was as if the tension from three years ago was entirely forgotten, or at least dimmed to a point that was barely noticeable. He smiled at Maddie as she came up to him. The woman looked up at him and chuckled. “You’ve grown.”

He has. It seemed that, during his two years away, his body had done its best to make up for his slowed aging. Aside from gaining a stubble on his chin, he had also hit his growth spurt, causing him to tower over his mother.

He grinned and said, “I don’t know, Mom. I still feel like a child mentally.”

Maddie laughed. “Come here,” she said and pulled him into a hug. It felt odd now that he was taller than her, but he reciprocated nonetheless. She squeezed him with her arms, then let go. “Come on, the dinner will get cold.”

“Oh, no,” Danny said with dread. “You didn’t _cook_, did you?”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “My cooking isn’t _that_ bad.”

“Did the food come to life while you were making it?”

Maddie faltered. “Well…yes. But it’s neutralized now.”

Danny grinned cheekily, causing her to roll her eyes again. Jack leaned in and said, “Don’t worry, son. I know your mother’s cooking. As long as it doesn’t get overshadowed by a ghost, it tastes amazing.”

“Thank you, Jack.”

Danny sighed. “I guess I have no choice, then.”

He was led to the kitchen, where his mother had prepared a meal for them. A few minutes later, Jazz arrived, and they began the feast. It was filled with lively conversations about their various lives, what Danny and Jazz were studying, and how the Fenton Works business was going. At one point, Maddie and Jack almost got into a debate—again—about Santa Claus, but Jazz stopped them with a loud sigh and a saying of, “Can we please have a nice Christmas this year?” So, they stopped and made sure the subject of Saint Nick remained untouched.

To no one’s surprise, halfway through their meal, they were interrupted by a ghost. The plates and food began to glow and levitate, and everyone pushed back their chairs and stood up. Maddie was swift in whipping out a gun and shooting the floating dishes. Jack sucked up the wraith in a Fenton thermos. After the ghost was dealt with, there were a few seconds of silence, and then everyone laughed.

“See? This is why we should have gone to a restaurant,” Danny said in between laughs.

Once the laughter subsided, Jack held up the thermos that held the ghost inside. “I should go release this into the portal,” he announced. Danny perked up at that. The portal in the basement…man, when was the last time he went to the lab? Actually, he knew when. It was the last day he spent with Phantom…. That felt like forever ago now.

“I’ll come with you,” Danny spoke up. Jack looked at him with surprise.

“You’re sure?” the man asked. He nodded. Jack glanced at Maddie, who shrugged. “Alright,” he told Danny with a smile, and the two went downstairs to the basement.

Danny felt goosebumps appear on his flesh as they entered the lab. Something about this place’s atmosphere made his skin tingle, like the air here was electric. The sharp stench of ectoplasm reached his nose, something he hasn’t smelled in years.

Jack crossed the room to the portal built into the far wall. Danny stood behind and gazed at its green glow. He remembered, when he had a ghost inside him, he always felt pulled to the portal and the ghost zone that lay beyond it. The pull was gone now, but he still felt entranced by its sight, as if the phantom remainders of his ghost self were still calling to him.

“I feel kind of bad,” Danny said suddenly, causing his dad to look at him. “I mean, I’m the one who activated the portal. Maybe if I didn’t, Amity Park wouldn’t get attacked every other day.”

Jack laughed and shook his head. “By that logic, your mother and I would be the ones to blame. We built the portal in the first place.” He walked up to his son and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Anyway, we should thank you. Without access to the ghost zone, our research wouldn’t have gone so far.”

Danny gave him a small smile, then let it fall away. “But don’t you ever get tired of hunting ghosts all the time?” _I know I did,_ was the thought he didn’t add.

“Not really! We have help.”

“The Red Huntress?” Danny questioned. “She still hunts ghosts?”

Jack scrunched up his face. “Well…she does _sometimes_, but that’s not who I was talking about.”

“…Then…who?”

Jack sent a confused look at his son, then it morphed into glee. “Of course! You left when he came back, didn’t you?”

“He?” Danny felt his heart rate quicken. A memory resurfaced in his head—a blur of black-and-white in Jazz’s car mirror. But that couldn’t be…could it? He refused to let himself feel hopeful…until Jack said:

“Phantom, of course!”

Danny took in a shaky breath. “Phantom is back?” he whispered.

Jack nodded, a wide grin on his face. “You were right. He _is_ a good ghost. He’s helped us hunt bad ghosts countless times!” He noticed the tears welling up in Danny’s eyes, and his expression turned to worry. “Did I say something bad?”

Danny laughed and wiped his eyes. “No. This might be the best Christmas I’ve had, though.”

Jack smiled in relief. He squeezed Danny’s shoulder. “You haven’t even seen the gift your mother and I got you!”

It turned out the gift was a new telescope, since Danny’s old one was wobbly and scratched. It made Danny feel bad about the gifts he gave them, which were a couple of sweaters. At least it beat the keychains Jazz got them.

His parents told him that he was free to stay the night in, and that they left his room as it was. Danny thanked them, but he didn’t go to sleep when everyone else did. Instead, he took his new telescope and went up to the roof.

His old telescope was sitting there when he arrived. Danny took no time in assembling his new one and placing it next to it. He looked through it at the bright stars in the sky, feeling like a child again as he did.

Danny had always enjoyed looking at the stars. Something about the small spots of light blinking at him through the darkness always made him feel reassured. He gazed at the stars tonight, trying to name each one. The cold night air brushed against him comfortingly.

He spent maybe half an hour like this before some other bright object appeared in his vision. He looked up from his telescope and felt his breath stolen away by the sight of the figure before him. There, floating in front of him, was none other than Phantom.

“Hey,” the ghost greeted.

“Hey,” Danny replied breathlessly.

The ghost boy landed on the roof next to him. His glow shed light on their surroundings. Phantom looked Danny up and down. “You’ve grown,” he said.

“You haven’t,” Danny responded.

He hasn’t. Phantom looked identical to the last time he had seen his reflection in ghost form. His hair was the same mess from Danny’s teenage years, and his face was still sprinkled with freckles that had long disappeared from Danny’s visage.

Phantom rubbed his arm and looked away. “Sorry if I look too much like you,” he muttered. “I guess I grew too used to seeing you in the mirror that I unconsciously imprinted on you or…something.”

“It’s fine,” Danny assured. “I mean, it’s kind of weird, but fine.”

Phantom looked at him, and a small smile grew on his face. “So, become an astronaut yet?”

“Not yet. First I have to stay in school and learn…” He gave a fake shudder and said, “_math and science_.”

Phantom laughed. “Oh man, that sucks.”

“It does. But,” he heaved a sigh, “it’s the price I have to pay for going to space.”

Phantom burst into guffaws, and the glow emitting from him seemed to become brighter. Danny couldn’t help the smile that made its way on his face. Even though it wasn’t in his head anymore, talking to Phantom like this still felt familiar.

“I missed you, you know,” he said once Phantom’s laughter died down. He couldn’t stand the glowing green eyes that met his own, so he turned his attention to the night sky and continued to speak. “Even though it’s been…three years?” He chuckled. “God, it feels much longer than that.” He shook his head and said, “I’d always find myself talking to you in my mind, even when I know you’re not there anymore. It felt lonely without you.”

Phantom was quiet for a moment, and then he murmured, “Me too. I mean…I missed you, too.”

Danny finally tore his eyes away from the stars to look at Phantom again. The ghost boy had seated himself next to Danny and was resting his chin on his knees. “Why’d you come back?” he asked.

Phantom shrugged. “Afterlife was too boring in the ghost zone.”

“Is that the only reason?”

Phantom looked at him and grinned. “What, do I have to tell you everything about me? It’s not like we’re the same person anymore.”

Danny’s lips curled up at that, but he still watched Phantom expectantly. Phantom looked away.

“I guess…it made me feel useful, or something,” he admitted. “Before I got stuck inside you, I didn’t have a goal for my existence. I don’t even remember anything from my life to give me something to stick to. I just wandered around aimlessly…until you suggested we become a superhero. And then, well…it felt right, so I came back.” He raised his eyes to Danny. “There, I told you. Happy?”

Danny was quiet, his face set in contemplation. Too quiet for Phantom’s liking. The ghost wasn’t used to not knowing what Danny was thinking. “You gonna say something or what?” he said.

“Oh.” Danny snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at Phantom. “I’m proud of you for being a hero. It’s good to know Amity is in good hands.”

He smirked. “Yeah, since your parents obviously aren’t good enough.”

Danny laughed. “Come on, they deserve at least a little credit. They did protect the city for a year while you were gone.”

Phantom shrugged. He watched as Danny lay back on his elbows, his face turned upward to the sky.

“You wanted to be a firefighter.”

Phantom blinked. “…What?”

Danny’s eyes moved to meet Phantom’s. “You said you couldn’t remember anything from your life. Well, you wanted to be a firefighter.”

Phantom sat upright. “How do you know?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Seriously? We were in the same body once. I’m pretty sure I told you that we shared dreams sometimes. I saw some of your memories, and your dream was to become a firefighter.”

Phantom picked at his gloves as he let that information sink in. It’s true, Danny did say they shared their dreams, but he didn’t know some of his memories bled through. Somehow, what Danny said felt right. “Firefighter, huh?” he said, a small smile appearing on his face. “Saving people. Makes sense.”

The two were quiet for a moment. They sat on the roof, a human man and a ghost boy, as the stars twinkled above. Then, Danny spoke up. “You know, if we tried fusing together again now, no one would stop us.”

Phantom snapped his head toward him. “Seriously?”

The human held up both hands and said, “Hey, I’m just saying. Now that my parents accept you and all…”

“You don’t want to be stuck with me,” Phantom interrupted. He winced and explained, “I mean…I’m the city’s appointed superhero. You’re studying to become an astronaut. We can’t be both if we’re in the same body.”

“…I know,” Danny said sadly, looking down. Phantom bit his lip.

“Still…that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends as we are,” he said hopefully. “You could visit Amity Park, and we’d catch up. Just a living boy and his dead friend. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

Danny looked up and met his vivid green eyes. He smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.”

A cold sensation suddenly gripped Phantom’s throat, and a puff of blue mist made its way out his mouth. He leaned over the edge of the roof to see a ghost phase out the wall of the building. He groaned.

“I guess you better get that, huh?” Danny said.

“Yeah.” He lifted himself into the air and turned around to wave at Danny. “Talk to you later?”

Danny waved back. “Sure.”

Phantom grinned and disappeared from sight. Danny stayed on the roof for another few minutes, soaking in the cold breeze against his skin. Finally, he stood up and made his way indoors to get some rest.

Despite their promise, he and Phantom didn’t talk more that day, or the day after. The next morning, Danny bid his parents and sister farewell and boarded a plane back to his campus.

He and Phantom didn’t talk for years to come.


	6. Chapter 6

Danny was 40 when his father died.

He had received a call from his mother one morning. She was sobbing through the phone when she broke the news to him: Jack Fenton was dead. It was a sudden death—during his sleep. Danny was invited to the funeral.

Of course, there was no way he could refuse coming to the funeral. He got a day off from the space agency so he could visit Amity Park, where it was being held. He arrived at the memorial site, dressed in all black. All his other family members were already there. So were Sam and Tucker. Even after all these years, those two remained close to the Fentons, so it made sense to invite them as well.

He stared at the casket where his father’s body was being held. It was a large-sized casket for a large-sized man. Even seeing it before him, it was hard to believe that he was dead.

“You okay?” someone next to him asked, and he turned his head to see Sam. The black funeral dress she wore was not unusual compared to her everyday wear. If Danny was being honest, he’d say she looked as beautiful as she had when they were teens.

“I’m fine,” Danny replied. “It’s just weird to think that he’s really gone.”

“Honestly, I didn’t think he even _could_ die,” Sam said, turning her gaze to the casket. “He was so filled with life that I was convinced he would live forever.”

Danny chuckled and rubbed his nose. “Well, he was human, just like the rest of us.”

A heavy quiet hung between them. Sam reached out a hand and rubbed Danny’s back comfortingly. She, and Tucker, stood by him as the funeral went on, and later as the casket was buried. After the grave was filled, and the people went to cry on their own or comfort those who were crying, Danny stood before Jack’s gravestone. It was only then that his friends left his side because they sensed his need to be alone.

“Is it weird that I miss him already?” Maddie said, coming to stand next to him. Danny saw her face, puffed up and red from crying. Of course, she must be taking this the hardest. She and Jack were inseparable.

“Are you going to continue the ghost-hunting business?” Danny asked.

“Someone has to,” she replied. “It’s what Jack would have wanted.” Compared to how she sounded when she called him, Maddie was well-composed at that moment. She always was a strong woman.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” Danny said.

She gave a sad chuckle and shook her head. “Don’t be. You had no hand in his death.” She gazed at the marble gravestone somberly. “Anyway, he was an old man. It was bound to happen.”

Danny realized in that moment how old his mother looked. Her face was lined with wrinkles, her hair completely gray. Of course, it’s not like Danny himself hadn’t changed at all—he had gained a few gray hairs himself since he started working, and his form was considerably less scrawny that it used to be (but not in the attractive way).

Maddie sniffed. “I think I’ll be going now,” she said. “Do you…”

“I’ll stay here a bit longer,” Danny told her. She nodded. Soon, he was left alone with the grave after she left.

Well…not for long.

He sensed someone come up from behind him, and he turned around, ready to tell whoever it was to give him some space. But the words died in his throat when he saw who the person was. In fact, it wasn’t even a person—at least, not a living one.

“Phantom,” Danny greeted. The ghost smiled at him sheepishly. He looked…damn, he looked the exact same as when Danny had last talked to him years ago.

Phantom nodded at the gravestone. “Sorry for your loss,” he said with a hint of awkwardness. It must have felt odd for someone dead to provide comfort over someone else being dead.

Danny looked at the tombstone. “You’re dead, too,” he told Phantom, “but you’re still here…”

“Oh, that’s not how ghosts work,” Phantom quickly said. “I mean…not everyone who dies gets to be a ghost. Sorry.”

Of course. Danny was expecting that answer. “Then what does it take to be a ghost?”

“Either you were unsatisfied in your life, or you died a violent death,” Phantom explained. “From what I’ve heard, Jack’s death was peaceful, and he seemed pretty happy with his life…. So, no ghost.”

Danny tore his eyes away from his dad’s grave to observe Phantom. It dawned on him that he never wondered about how the ghost boy met his end. “Why are _you_ here?” he asked.

It didn’t escape his notice the way Phantom stiffened. “You mean why I’m at the funeral?” he hesitantly asked, but they both knew he knew that was not what Danny asked.

“You told me once that you don’t remember anything from your life,” Danny pointed out. “Does that also include…”

“I don’t need to tell you anything,” Phantom suddenly snapped. Danny was shocked at the anger visible on the young ghost’s face. Phantom must have noticed this, because he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. _Ghosts don’t need to breathe,_ Danny thought, and he realized this must be a habit Phantom picked up from Danny. “I’m sorry, I just…I don’t want to talk about it,” Phantom murmured.

Danny didn’t press him. Now that he looked at him, he noticed with a sharp ache just how young Phantom was. He remembered one time, when they were still together, that he asked Phantom how old he was. The ghost replied rather casually that he was around Danny’s age when he died. It didn’t seem like a big deal when he was younger, but now that Danny was an adult, it seemed like a pretty big deal.

He pursed his lips and stared at the grass. “It’s been a while since we last talked, huh?”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t visit often.” He noticed the anger in Phantom’s tone and realized guiltily that he must be mad at him.

“I’m sorry,” Danny apologized with a sigh. “It’s just that I had to always be on the call in case the space agency needed me.”

Phantom’s anger melted away into curiosity. “You became an astronaut?”

“Oh, no, I gave up on that a long time ago.”

The surprise on Phantom’s face seemed almost comical. “What? But that was, like, your lifelong dream!”

Danny shrugged. “I mean, I’m still interested in space. I just realized there were other positions besides being the one inside the rocket.”

“So then, you became…”

“An aerospace engineer.” At Phantom’s blank stare, Danny grinned and added, “A rocket scientist, dude.”

Phantom’s face split into a grin, and he let out a laugh. “No way—you build rockets? I bet your dad would’ve been proud.”

His dad…. Of course, Danny was reminded of the day’s occasion. He turned his gaze back at the gravestone next to him, and the grief inside him grew. Phantom bit his lip.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, again. For your…loss.”

Danny’s lips quirked upward. “You know, you don’t have to comfort me if it makes you feel weird.”

“Oh thank god,” Phantom heaved out. “It’s so weird when I’m already dead.”

Despite the sadness of the occasion, Danny sniggered at that. Phantom looked at him, but he didn’t feel glad. Unbeknownst to Danny, the death of Jack Fenton brought to the forth of Phantom’s thoughts an unchangeable fact: humans are mortal. Sooner or later, all of them will die…including Danny.

“Visit more,” he blurted out. Danny tilted his head at him in surprised confusion. Phantom continued, “I miss you, man. I don’t want us to…I don’t want…” He gulped and said, “I don’t want you to die without spending us spending time together.”

Danny’s face became clouded with sadness. “…Oh.” He looked at the grave, his eyes tracing the words carved on the marble. Then he looked back at Phantom. Slowly, he nodded his head. “You’re right. I don’t want that to happen either.” He closed his eyes and added, “I didn’t spend enough time with Dad. I don’t want that to happen with Mom, or Jazz, or…you.”

Phantom smiled in relief. “You promise?”

Danny’s blue eyes met Phantom’s ghostly green ones and held them in place. “I promise.”

And this time, their promise was kept. Of course, Danny wasn’t available all the time, what with his space job and all. However, he did make sure to visit Amity Park at least once a year. He connected with his mom. He connected with Jazz, who still lived in Amity as a psychologist for both humans and ghosts. He connected with Sam and Tucker whenever they decided to visit their own families in town. But most of all, he made sure to chat with Phantom every time he visited.

Everything went well. Danny was happy with his life.

But no matter how good his life was, it still wasn’t permanent.


	7. Chapter 7

Danny was 84 when he died.

He was diagnosed with an illness several months prior. His doctors had warned him about the risks, so he wasn’t surprised. Honestly, he would have expected to be more scared about the prospect of dying, but right now he felt…accepting. Maybe he could meet his parents, wherever dead people who aren’t ghosts go. (Maddie had followed her husband’s fate 20 years ago. Jazz, surprisingly, but at the same time not so surprisingly, had taken over the Fenton Works business after she left.)

His friends, and some of his former coworkers, had visited him from time to time throughout the course of his illness, but they weren’t there on the day he died. It was a pretty calm day, actually. The heart monitor by his bed beeped softly as always, and the sunlight was filtered through a thin curtain over the window. Danny had his eyes closed and was breathing—or trying his best, in his condition. A sudden cold fell over the hospital room, causing him to shiver. He opened his eyes and saw Phantom standing by his bedside.

“Sh…shouldn’t you be at…Amity P…park?” Danny wheezed out. He tried to laugh, but it turned into a cough instead. Phantom looked at him sadly.

“You visited me many times. It would be rude of me not to return the favor,” Phantom responded. He tried to sound like his usual snarky self, but his sadness was crystal clear to Danny. Danny reached out a shaky hand to Phantom, and Phantom took it in his own.

“You really…haven’t…changed at…all.” The Phantom before him was identical to the one back at his dad’s funeral, and further back to the one on the roof, and even further back to his own reflection as a boy.

Phantom shrugged and rubbed Danny’s hand. He gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Ghosts don’t age much,” he said.

“Much?”

He laughed. “Alright, we don’t age at all.”

Danny wheeze-laughed. It hurt his chest, so he stopped. “Ghosts,” he echoed, then his lips formed a sad smile. “It’s too…bad. I wanted…to be a…ghost, so I…can spend…more time…with you. But…I can only…be a ghost…if I was un…satisfied…with my life…and you made…that im…possible.”

Tears were now welling up in Phantom’s eyes. “You’re sure about that? Not even a little bit unsatisfied?”

Danny shook his head. His hand seemed to go limp in Phantom’s hold. Phantom gripped it tighter.

“Not even…a little,” Danny breathed out. He coughed. And coughed and coughed, then closed his eyes. Phantom felt a lump form in his throat.

One power of ghosts that few people knew of was that they could tell when someone is close to death. And in that moment, Phantom knew that Danny was dying. The tears that gathered in his eyes now fell down his cheeks. The heart monitor’s beeps were getting slower.

“Say hi to Mom and Dad for me,” Phantom whispered. He didn’t know whether Danny heard him or not, because right then, Danny Fenton died.

The heart monitor flatlined. Phantom breathed in and slowly let go of Danny’s hand. He wiped at the tears that were now cascading down his face.

He turned himself invisible and stood back, watching as the doctors rushed into the room. As they gathered around Danny’s limp body. As they tried to shock him back to life. It was only after the doctors gave up, after they exchanged glances with each other and shook their heads, after it was officially declared that Danny was dead…

Phantom turned, phased through the window, and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end :)


End file.
